Woes flow from Western drought

Farmers fret, water supplies disappear, lifestyles change

By ADAM NAGOURNEY AND IAN LOVETT THE NEW YORK TIMES

Posted: February 2, 2014 at 4:27 a.m.

LOS ANGELES — The drought that has swept California and much of the West is confronting authorities with the worst water shortage this region has faced in more than a century, with near-empty reservoirs, parched fields, starving livestock, clouds of smog and outbreaks of wildfires.